Chapter Thirty: City Guardian

  When I went back, I happened to bring a bowl of spicy chicken for Master, which made Master very happy. In the afternoon, Master had already prepared a lot of talismans, and the stack of yellow paper I bought was almost used up. Master has been practicing this art for many years, so there's no possibility of making mistakes. At this moment, I have more than 20 talismans in my pocket. Seeing me holding the spicy chicken and also carrying a bottle of white wine, Master was very happy and casually threw me five or six Five Thunder Talismans: "Kid, considering your carefulness, Master won't let you work for nothing, use them sparingly."

  It was already dark when we finished dinner, and tonight should be the time for Wang Qianqiu to open his chest, but I don't know where it will be. I watched TV with my master while waiting, and as for my master, he seemed to be enjoying himself, saying that he had never stayed in such a high-end hotel before, and that he had always lived in the cheapest rented houses all his life. It's easy to imagine that my master has suffered a lot in this life, which makes me sigh with emotion.

  It was already past nine at night, when suddenly a gust of cold wind blew in from the window, driving away some of the heat in the room. My master and I exchanged a glance, knowing that Wang Qianqiu had arrived. As expected, with the flickering light in the room, Wang Qianqiu stepped out from the wall, bowed to my master and said: "I have made contact, tonight the City God will hold a midnight trial for Li Chengdong, and this matter will be settled once and for all."

  "I must thank General Wang for that. I wonder where the City God plans to set up his altar?" The master smiled, "It's a good thing it's settled, at least I won't have to worry about this matter every day."

  Wang Qianqiu simply sat on the bed, pointed to this room: "The City God's temple is just a sleeve, I think this room is not bad, the City God is not picky, and you two don't have to run around."

  The master was stunned for a moment, and didn't say much, just nodded his head. I originally thought he would choose a remote place to avoid disturbing ordinary people, but unexpectedly chose here instead. However, I suddenly thought of something - this place is crowded with many eyes watching, what if there's some commotion and someone discovers us? That would be terrifying! It's better to go inform the hotel owner first. So I told the master and went downstairs to look for him, but coincidentally ran into a familiar face - Zhang Jianhua. As soon as he saw me, Zhang Jianhua's face was filled with smiles: "Gao Ren, I was just about to deliver some news to you..."

  I was stunned for a moment, and suddenly my eyes lit up: "Is there any news about Xiaoxue?"

  Zhang Jianhua didn't dare to look at me, he just smiled bitterly and said: "One of my brothers told me that something strange happened in Daqiao Town yesterday. A restaurant suddenly became cold in the middle of the night, it was already past 3 o'clock in the morning. If there weren't still some customers who hadn't left yet because they were too drunk, no one would have noticed this. It's said that a girl appeared out of thin air, took away many food items from the restaurant, and then disappeared. If not for the fact that some food was really missing, everyone would have thought it was just an illusion. I asked carefully, but unfortunately, no one saw the girl's appearance clearly. Only one waiter saw her, and a cold air emerged, suddenly all the lights in the kitchen went out, it was pitch black and nothing could be seen. It's only known that it was a girl. I'm guessing maybe it might be Xiaoxue, so I rushed over to deliver this message to you. Just now, Shunzi and I were talking about this."

  "What's next?" I had a glimmer of hope in my heart. This sudden move must be the work of a ghost, and maybe it was really Xiaoxue.

  However, Zhang Jianhua was stunned for a moment: "There's no then. At the time, I heard a girl scolding for two sentences. When the lights came on, nothing could be seen. Some food was missing, but it seemed to have come and gone in vain. But I think those ghosts don't need to eat anything, so they won't come to steal food. It should be a big living person."

  That makes sense, after a moment of contemplation, I nodded: "Then tomorrow you take me to see, I'll go confirm whether it's Xiaoxue or not. If it really is Xiaoxue, even if we can't find her, at least we'll know she's safe for the time being... thank you, Third Brother!"

  "Don't be polite to me, if it weren't for you I'd have lost my life, besides it's just a matter of running errands, no need to thank me." Zhang Jianhua just smiled, his face numb from the long time.

  I smiled and didn't say much, I remembered this feeling, Zhang Jianhua was really concerned about my affairs. But thinking of my task, I just turned my head to look at the boss: "Boss, let me tell you something, tonight in my room there will be some things going on, no matter what happens, remember not to let anyone in, otherwise..."

  "Don't worry, I'll definitely make it happen, not even a fly will be allowed to fly in." The boss's face tightened, and naturally, he didn't hesitate. Of course, I had no idea that when I returned, the boss had arranged for his wife to guard the front hall, while he himself went to stand guard at my door.

  I was hesitating about how to bid farewell to Zhang Jianhua, but unexpectedly Zhang Jianhua suddenly asked in a daze: "Gao Ren, is there something tonight that I don't know if you need me for? As long as it's something I, Zhang Jianhua, can do, just let me know."

  "It's nothing, just handling some things." Although I really appreciate Zhang Jianhua's help, it's really nothing.

  However, I guess I misunderstood Zhang Jianhua's meaning. Seeing me say this, Zhang Jianhua hesitated for a moment: "That, can I follow and see, that..."

  I was stunned for a moment, and I had the heart to refuse Zhang Jianhua, but thinking that it would be less troublesome for Zhang Jianhua in the future, I hesitated for a while: "Well, let me ask Master first, see if it's okay, you wait outside for now."

  Then I led Zhang Jianhua upstairs and arrived at the door, arranging for Zhang Jianhua to wait for me. Only then did I go in. At this time, Wang Qianqiu was nowhere to be seen, only Master was here. Without Wang Qianqiu, I felt a bit relieved. After telling Master about Zhang Jianhua's situation, Master initially opened his mouth as if he wanted to refuse, but afterwards hesitated: "Forget it, this person has done many bad things in the past. Let him experience it and maybe accumulate some good karma. Let him come in."

  I finally breathed a sigh of relief, went out to greet Zhang Jianhua to come in, saw Master Zhang Jianhua and bowed down, again serving tea and pouring water, which made me very embarrassed, but was much more diligent than me, seeing the time pass, it had already struck eleven o'clock.

  Most people think that ghosts only come out after midnight, which is a misconception. In fact, after 11 o'clock, it's already the hour of Zi, when the yang energy weakens and the yin energy strengthens, and that's when ghosts start to appear. They just don't usually show themselves at this time. This is also why some people encounter ghosts - they think it's not yet midnight, but the ghosts are already out. However, those who get scared are often scaring themselves, as most wandering spirits and wild ghosts don't have any malicious intentions, and at most might just play a trick or two on humans. Besides, humans fear ghosts three parts, but ghosts fear humans seven parts. This is because human yang energy is strong, although being haunted by ghosts can cause illness due to yin energy invasion, relatively speaking, ghosts are also affected by yang energy, which can cause them to dissipate. Humans might get seriously ill, but ghosts will have their souls scattered. So, ghosts are actually more afraid of humans and don't dare approach them. Unfortunately, most people have already scared themselves silly, thinking that ghosts are out to harm them when they see one floating around, when in fact the ghost didn't do anything to them - it's just their own fear that's getting the better of them. There's really no need for this.

  As soon as the bell rang, a gust of cold wind swept in, causing the temperature in the room to drop sharply. The sound of drums could be faintly heard, and a thin layer of fog began to spread throughout the room. My master and I were not afraid, but Zhang Jianhua was already cowering behind me, too scared to come out. I ignored him and watched as the fog grew thicker, until we couldn't see the original room anymore. Looking into the distance, all that could be seen was a dark expanse, until several white lanterns appeared in the darkness. Only later did we realize they were white paper lanterns, with one side written "Life" and the other side written "Death".

  As the lanterns appeared, a team of people in ancient attire similar to those seen on TV emerged, with hundreds of them forming two rows. On one side were officials holding placards that read "Silence", while on the other side were officials holding placards that read "Withdraw". This was indeed an official procession, but it also included a team of guards and clerks, as well as ox-headed and horse-faced deities following behind.

  In an instant, it appeared before us. For a moment, the flags rolled up and the drums stopped breathing. In that instant, all sounds disappeared. Although we were still in the room, but looking around, everything was misty, even far away, you could see forests and distant mountains, and there was even a chaotic tomb, countless ghost fires flickering, with faint sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling. It's just unknown whether walking forward would bump into the wall.

  In the midst of the dark troops, there was a large sedan chair being carried by eight dark guards. However, those sedan bearers looked different from ordinary dark guards; their faces were pale white, with small braids tied up, and what's more unbearable was that they also had a bright red little mouth. If it were in the past, I would have been scared to death, but after all the experiences I've gone through with Ruyi Jin, I no longer feel how to be afraid, though still somewhat unaccustomed, especially with Zhang Jianhua clinging to my arm and trembling like a leaf.

  There was a sudden movement of the sedan curtain, and inside was an official with a reddish complexion, wearing official attire, holding a jade tablet. At this moment, he lifted his robe and came out, and it turned out that he saw Shifu, and couldn't help but smile: "So the Daoist priest mentioned by General Wang is actually Miao Daoist priest, long time no see."

  The City God and the Master were old acquaintances, but they didn't know when they met. However, looking at the Master's unchanged expression, it was clear that he wasn't particularly concerned about the City God. He just nodded slightly: "Amitabha Buddha, long time no see, Cui Cheng Huang, where is General Wang?"

  The words had barely fallen when the sound of horseshoes echoed from afar, and upon closer inspection, it was Wang Qianqiu leading the dark troops, riding war horses in a charge, laughing loudly from a distance: "It turns out that Miao Daochang and Cheng Huangye are old acquaintances after all, I knew there was no need for me to play matchmaker..."